Man hospitalized after exchanging gunfire with police

Sam Unger and George Knue

A Maywood man has been hospitalized after an exchange of gunfire with police at a Maywood home early this morning, police said.

Officers were called to the 200 block of South 11th Avenue at 1:27 a.m. after a woman called, saying she had been pistol-whipped by her husband inside their home, Maywood Police Chief Tim Curry said. When officers arrived, they spoke to the woman at a neighbor's house; she said that her husband was still inside the home.

Curry said she also told police her husband had fired a shot at her after the pistol-whipping, and that the gun jammed when he tried to fire a second time. As he tried to unjam it, she escaped to the neighbor's home, where she called police.

The man fired at officers as they approached his house, and officers returned fire. When police reached the home, they found the man unresponsive with a gunshot wound, Curry said. It was not immediately known if the injuries were caused by shots fired by police or self-inflicted.

Curry did not not know how many shots were fired back and forth.

The man was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. His condition was not known.

His wife also went to Loyola with injuries to her head and face, Curry said.

Three officers also went to Loyola for evaluations after the incident and were treated and released, Curry said. One of the officers may have been shot in his bulletproof vest, he said, though that was still under investigation.

The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit is investigating, along with Maywood Police.